REDEFINING THE WALL: japanese fan

2009 Open Architecture Challenge: Schools in Hyderabad, India

2009 Open Architecture Challenge: Classroom

WALL
a building that breathes

"I can't change the direction of the

wind, but I can adjust my sails to

always reach my destination.”
Jimmy Dean

2008

A wall is an element constructed to divide a space into separate spaces, this is apparent. What a wall should also do is control the ventilation from the exterior side to the interior side. This would allow a building to “breath” by bringing fresher and cooler air and exhaling the warm and stale air. At the same time, it should shelter the interior from precipitation outside and allowing natural light to bleed through without being overwhelming. Natural ventilation can reduce the interior temperature by almost 5˚ F.

References:

Andy Walker, Natural Ventilation
http://www.wbdg.org/resources/naturalventilation.php
Jimmy Dean, Thinkquest.com
http://thinkexist.com/quotation/i_can-t_change_the_direction_of_the_wind-but_i/212145.html
Image
www.transit380.com/sailplan.php

Skin

Skin
The building blocks

“. . .the foot is more noble than the shoe,
and skin more beautiful than the garment
with which it is clothed.”
_Michelangelo






2009

Skin is a surface supported by a structure either externally or internally. Human skin is stretched over an internal structure, where as architectural skins are attached to an external structure. Skins are either semi-permeable to the effect that it reacts to the environment to regulate temperature and humidity or non-permeable skin that shields the under layers from external factors. Skin also reacts to the environment around it providing a durable surface to protect from hazardous conditions.
The surface of skin is made up of many smaller pieces connected together to act as a whole. The pieces can work independently from each other but collective stand as a whole. Other skins work together to develop a single surface that provides a service to the structure that supports it.

Roof
The transforming application of a plane.




"We beleive the computer revolution has
leftmost of you behind."

-Dan O’sullivan and Tom Igoe



2004

A roof is better defined as one of the three elementary parts of architecture: points, lines, and planes. In Its basic form the plane can change according to the parameters laid out by the designer. Throughout its transformation it holds many of the characteristics that walls and skins also hold. It is only after its application that the planes orientation defines it as a roof. Through out history the roof has been redefined multiple times in response to culture, climate, economics, welfare, etc. The question we have to ask ourselves is what truly defines the roof of the present and the future. In my opinion it is a mixture of forces driving the design of today’s roof structures. In my opinion the movement for a greener and more sustainable architecture should combine with the innovative technologies offered by computer programs and digital fabrication. Together they would create a freeform roof that responds to the occupant as well as the environment around it.
_gap




References:
Quote- O’Sullivan, Dan, and Tom Igoe Physical Computing (2004)Thompson, Boston, Ma pgXVII
Image- Rafael Vinoly Architects. www.rvatr.com

Walls

The Boundary of our lives.

“But the wall is a good thing” _Don Tomlinson

May 2007

Don Tomlinson said this in a National Geographic article about the new wall being installed at the United States and Mexico after his brother said he felt sorry for the Mexicans. In Webster a wall is defined as many things. First it is a think and tall masonry structure making a protective barrier for the prepuces of defense or a structure that holds back a form of pressure. It is also defined as one side of a room or building connecting floors and ceilings as well as a material enclosed space. The final one is something that resembles a wall especially if it acts as a barrier or defense. To me walls are a protective barrier. In a building they keep the elements like rain, snow, ice, cold out and the inside at a nice dry temperature. Other walls like the bremer wall which is used in Iraq and Afghanistan to protect the bases from blast. Another good example is the wall between the United States and Mexico. The wall was designed to keep immigrants from entering the United States illegally. In a number of areas you cannot get thought the wall which is made of three walls. The first being made of twenty foot high reinforced concrete followed by a steel mesh wall, and finally ten yards later there is a cyclone fence topped with jagged concertina wire. These new walls have slowed illegal immigration greatly at the 1950 mile border. In the end walls do a lot to protect us from a number of things. If it was not for walls we would have a lot of problems. _DCL

References:

Webster

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wall

Where U.S.-Mexico border fence is tall, border crossings fall

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0401/p01s05-usgn.html?page=1

Bremer wall

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bremer_wall

National Geographic

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/05/us-mexican-border/bowden-text/3

Picture

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/05/us-mexican-border/bowden-text/1